First Ride of 2009

February 9, 2009

Mark it on your calendar people. Sunday, February 8 as the first outdoor ride of 2009. About 2 hours and just shy of 30 miles.

After being completely frozen for all of January, the roads finally thawed and the temperature topped 50 and me and one of my Wheelworks team mates took full advantage and hit the roads. It was the nicest it had been all year, despite the 15-30 mph winds, and I was loving it. I was even a little over dressed. It felt really good to be outside and actually warm. It even felt strang to be on a bike that actually MOVES when you pedal it. After WAY too much time inside on the spin bike and trainer, I almost forgot what it was like to actually handle a moving bike and clip in and out at stop lights.

Since it was the first time in over a month where all the snow banks actually had a chance to thaw the roads were pretty wet with all of the run off. There wasn’t any avoiding all the puddles and streams running down the side of the road so we both had prett bad cases of mud butt.

mud butt (n): When the dirty water spraying from your bike’s back tire splashes up your back and makes it look like you messed your pants.

And yes, I have some standards so I’m not going to be posting any pics. 🙂

About 45 minutes into the ride I heard this big crash behind us. We stopped and turned around to find two cars totally destroyed. One apparently hit the gas instead of the brake and t-boned the other, sending the drivers side door of the other car straight into the middle of the car. The driver of the other car wasn’t wearing a seat belt either and was pretty beat up. From the looks of things, she broke her pelvis, but she was lucky to be alive and somehow managed to get out of the car. Judging by the damage to both cars, the fact that the air bag went off in the first car, and the fact that the second got tossed completely up onto the sidewalk, they must have hit pretty hard. My team mate used to be an EMT so she jumped into action and made sure everything was under control until the cops, fire department and EMS showed up.

It got us thinking about how dangerous driving can actually be. People always think of cycling as a really dangerous activity, but are really quick to dismiss the dangers of day-to-day driving. That being said, howevery you are getting around, BE SAFE PEOPLE. Buckle up. Wear a helmet. Stop at the red light. Life to race another day.

This post made me feel like a real jerk… we had rain sprinkles, maybe a whole 10 sprinkles this morning while we were getting ready to ride and half the crew was about to head home and call it a “bad weather day”…

Ahhhh, riding outside is a beautiful thing 🙂 Mud butt — very funny!! I actually see people on their bikes here in Jax, FL not wearing a helmet. I could never imagine! Also, I remember when I lived up a really long driveway I use to drive to get the mail and I use to buckle my seat belt (to go down a dirt driveway??). It is a GOOD habit!

Ouch…scary stuff! makes you think too if you had been 5 minutes slower….eek.
but yay for getting outside….and you know what they say about riding a bike…no matter how long it’s been, it’s just like riding bike!